Antonio Conte 'very happy' to see Christian Erikson back ahead of reunion
- Joe Hewlett
- 21 April 2022
Spurs boss Antonio Conte is excited about crossing paths with Christian Eriksen once again.
Conte worked with the Danish international at Inter Milan having signed him from Tottenham in January 2020.
During his tenure at Inter, the pair won Serie A together the following season. However, followed a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 for Denmark, Eriksen was forced to take time out of the game and is now back playing in the Premier League with Brentford.
The 30-year-old comes up against his former club Tottenham for the first time on Saturday as Spurs visit the Bees.
Conte, who admitted to meeting with Eriksen when the Dane returned to London in January, said: "I'm very happy to see him play football again.
"In June it was terrible, those images were terrible for everybody. We suffered a lot for him and his family.
"To see him for a game will be a pleasure for me. It's incredible because not long ago what happened.
"To see him playing again makes me very happy because I know football is life.
"To have this opportunity is great for him and his family because now they come back to have a normal life."
Tottenham require victory to move three points clear of Arsenal in fourth after their rivals defeated Chelsea 4-2 on Wednesday.
About the pressure of making Champions League football, Conte said. "Six games to go. We have to stay in this race.
"Now for sure, in this race I want to try to stay until the end. We know very well the difficulty to compete with other teams.
"I don't think Chelsea is in this race. They are in this moment on a different level. They are there because they missed some games but they don't stay in this race.
"We have to fight with Arsenal, they showed yesterday they are in good form, Man Utd, West Ham and Wolverhampton.
"Now we have to fight until the end. The last second of the last game, we will see which will be our place in the table."
Spurs handed Oliver Skipp a new contract on Wednesday and Conte says the youngster will be a big player for the future.
✍️ We are delighted to announce that Oliver Skipp has signed a new contract with the Club that will run until 2027.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 20, 2022
Congratulations, Skippy! 👏
He has not featured for Spurs since January after an ongoing injury but the Italian is still thinking big things of his midfielder.
"I'm very happy for Skippy because we are talking about a good player, a young player from the academy," Conte said.
"We know very well a player who has developed. He's not only a good player, we are talking about a fantastic guy.
"He's having a bit of problem with his injury. I know his frustration. I think his new contract shows we trust him a lot.
"He'll be very important for the present and future of Tottenham."
